Written in the Stars
by Elspeth Evans
Summary: Lily Evans meets James Potter...and HATES him. What's the story behind Hogwarts's greatest couple? Like it or not, in the end, their destiny is written in the stars. SUSPENDED TEMPORARILY!
1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:** Needless to say, I own nothing Harry Potter or anything else you might recognize. I own no songs I write about. I have read enough books and stories to forget where I picked up a certain idea or phrase, so I can't give credit to the author. Thank you.

To those who had already read through the 1st chapter, I changed her birthdate so she would go to school at 11, not 12. Thanx.

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Chapter 1

The Beginning

* * *

The story starts in the house of eleven-year-old Lily Evans: an outgoing redhead who attends the sixth grade at Portersby Elementary School. A very bright girl. Honest, generous, thoughtful. A normal girl, just like many other girls her age. She lived with her mother and her fourteen-year-old sister, Petunia.

Everything in her family and house seemed normal up until right before her eighth birthday. She didn't want a party, or any type of celebration. Her father had done it again. He had left just days before her birthday. He would probably be somewhere like Guatemala for June 24th, her birthday. He worked with an airline company, TWA. He would travel for months at a time and then come back with gifts for his family, as if that would pay back the time he was absent.

Lily cried silently in her room, just as she always did when something went wrong. She hated that her father was never home. Her mother came in to the room to put Lily's clean clothes in the closet. She saw Lily crying on the floor and, being the mother she was, knew exactly why she was crying. "Aw, Lily, sweetie, don't cry. Don't worry about the party. We'll plan it for the week your father gets back." She smiled and left a red-eyed Lily on the floor behind her. She shut the door.

Not only was she sad, but she was mad. The earth beneath her shook in anger. She cried louder. She pulled on her hair. The floor shook harder. Her redhead temper easily angered. Hot blood rushed to her head as she kneeled and put her head on the celery-colored carpet. Books started falling from her bookstand as she banged her head on the floor. The movement of the things around her grew stronger and more things would fall.

The ground stopped shaking as soon as the door in front of her swung open, revealing her agitated mother. She looked as though she had run up the stairs and down the hall as fast as she could. Her dirty blonde hair coming out of a bun on the nape of her neck.

"Lily, honey. Are you alright?" she asked, crouching down to Lily's position of the floor and putting her hand on Lily's cheek.

"What are you talking about?" she pushed her mother's hand off her face.

"The earthquake, sweetie. Didn't you feel it?" Her mother said, a confused look on her face.

"A little. Get out." She went back to her position against the wall. Her mother got up with her hands on her thighs, pushing down her knee-length turquoise skirt.

"Sorry for barging in. I just thought you might be afraid. You've never really felt an earthquake." She left

It was all just a coincidence though. Right?

Wrong.

A few months after the earthquake incident she had a similar experience, except this one saved her from the wrath of her mother. Lily was left alone one day. Her parents were out and Petunia was sleeping at a friend's house. Lily had gotten hungry and since she wasn't allowed to turn on the stove she was going to serve herself some cereal. Unfortunately, the bowls were pretty high up. Lily needed to kneel on the kitchen counter and balance herself with the fridge to reach the shelf they were on. On her way up, she accidentally knocked her mother's favorite hand-crafted mosaic tray. Her late niece had made it for her the year before she died in a car crash in London. The tray fell of its stand on the ice box and on to the linoleum floor. The whole thing shattered in an explosion of colorful glass.

She picked up every piece she could find. She even swept the floor looking for small pieces of red and blue. She put all the pieces into a clear punch bowl. She sat miserably on the kitchen floor. She had no idea what she would say to her mother the moment she arrived. She heard the crunching of the wheels of her father's black Buick Station Wagon coming into the driveway. She began to sweat nervously.

Helpless, she got up off the floor only to discover… the tray was whole again, lying on top of the punch bowl. She didn't even stop to think about it. She put the tray back in its place, the punch bowl back in the cupboard and she ran up to her room.

How had these things happened? She had no idea. Maybe she had some mental power, but she had no idea what would come in the next few years.

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"Pet, do you have it?" asked Lily from across the hall.

"Have what?" Asked Petunia

"The yellow shirt with the flower things." She said gesturing up and down her torso

"Nope. Haven't seen it" she said, not looking up from her magazine.

Lily went downstairs, in her jeans and towel. Amy Evans was in the kitchen cooking bacon and eggs. Lily ate quickly and went back upstairs to get properly dressed. Lily thought her mother was the wisest woman on the planet. She had an answer to everything. She was extremely witty and sarcastic, traits which had passed on to her daughter. Petunia, on the other hand, was just like her father. She liked being told what do, probably to not have to think for herself. Even though Lily loved her sister, she didn't really think the best of her. But on the other hand, Petunia didn't really like her sister that much either. Lily was always favored for being pretty and smart. Petunia was just Petunia, simple and normal.

Petunia was three years older than Lily, but she wasn't much taller than Lily. What made her look taller was the fact that she had a long neck. She was skinny, blonde and had dull blue eyes. Personally, Lily thought Petunia's face looked like that of a horse. She was outgoing, and had plenty of friends, but she had never felt special.

Lily had a round face, a small nose and bright green eyes that brought out her freckles. She was very smart and had about a million friends. Her parents were proud of everything she did. All her accomplishments were a motive for celebration. Petunia had always been jealous of the baby of the family. Lily always got away with the good stuff.

Today Lily was going on a play date to her friends Trish and Arlene's house. They lived down the block, about six houses down. These two girls were Lily's closest friends. Lily liked to watch football and play in the mud. She enjoyed playing jokes on people and bombing people with colored-water balloons. Most girls didn't understand her taste in hobbies, but these two definitely did.

Lily and the twins had known each other for about seven years now, starting from when they were in day care. Their mothers had know each other from college and it was a surprise that they had come to have children in the same year and move to the same block.

Lily walked the six houses to their house. She had been going there every Saturday for more than three years now. She felt very much at home there. The thing she liked most about the house was the huge fireplace in the entrance hall.

"Good morning, Lily", said a extremely cheery Mrs. Remmey.

"Good morning, Mrs. Remmey", said Lily as she walked inside the living room.

"The girls are outside already", said Mrs. Remmey, turning to check her mail.

Lily walked outside, where Trish and Arlene were sitting under a shaded table drinking lemonade. Lily flopped down next to Arlene, who was wearing a yellow top today. Her twin was wearing the same top, except hers was blue.

"What's up? Your mum's all excited." Asked Lily, while Trish pushed over her glass for Lily to have a sip.

"Yeah…", the twins gave each other meaningful looks. "She's been that way all week", said Arlene.

"We think she probably got offered a better spot at work". Mrs. Remmey worked at a hospital nearby.

Lily still didn't think they were telling the truth, but she didn't ask more about it. The girls spent the entire evening together talking, spying on their neighbor, eating, checking out the neighbor's son, talking about the neighbor's son, and Trish and Lily ended up pushing Arlene next door to talk to their neighbor's son. He was ok, but they only ended up finding out he was a twenty-year-old midget in kid's clothing. Yeah.

Mr. Remmey came home while Lily was still there. He was acting shifty as well, when he congratulated his girls on some invisible accomplishment Lily knew nothing about. She decided it was late and she should be heading home. Saying good bye to all the present members of the Remmey family, she left. It wasn't that late, not even dark, but she left anyway.

The surprise was at her house. She opened the door with a "Mum, I'm home early today", but her mum wasn't there. She could hear screaming coming from upstairs. She looked to the ceiling, as if expecting to see something _through_ the ceiling, and then dashed upstairs. The screaming was coming from Petunia's room. She heard things falling down as well, and something had just broken. Lily entered the room to find a very odd sight, indeed.


	2. Castles in the Sky

**Author's Note:** Needless to say, I own nothing Harry Potter or anything else you might recognize. I own no songs I write about. I have read enough books and stories to forget where I picked up a certain idea or phrase, so I can't give credit to the author. Thank you.

* * *

Chapter 2

"Castles in the Sky"

* * *

"GET OUT! GET OUT!" Petunia was yelling as she tried to swat a large owl with a magazine. AN OWL! What was an owl doing in her house. Her mother was trying to help it out the window with a tennis racket. It wasn't much help, since the bird tried to dodge it. The owl looked like it had a piece of old paper stuck to its leg. Maybe it just wanted some help getting the paper off its leg.

"Stop hitting it!" Lily said, trying to stand between her mother's tennis racket and the owl. "You're hurting it!" She pushed Petunia to the floor, since she kept on swatting with her magazine, hitting Lily instead. The owl settled down on a chair close to the window it had flown through. The owl looked at her with great yellow eyes and stretched out the leg with the paper on it. It probably bothered the owl, so why shouldn't she help it?

"Get away from it, Lily", her mother said with gritted teeth, as if the owl could understand. Lily was a little afraid of the claws, and a lot afraid of the beak, which had a very sharp point that she wouldn't like in either of her eyes. She reached slowly towards the paper, her mother still in an attack stance. She took her eyes off the owl's eyes and looked at the paper. It was actually tied, in the form of a scroll. Tied? Could it have been on purpose. It had some green writing. She started untying and unrolling the yellowing paper. It _did_ have some writing, addressed to Ms. L. Eva… WHAT! It was addressed to her! Ms. L. Evans, 1st room on the left, 8 Grange Road, Camberley, Surrey!

"Mum," she started in a shaky voice, "this thing has my name on it. Amy forgot about the owl 'being dangerous' and crouched next to her daughter, a look of concern her face. Lily opened the envelope and found three pieces of paper inside. The first one started:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

_of_ WITCHCRAFT _and_ WIZARDY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,_

_Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

Dear Ms. Evans,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…

Did this mean Lily was a witch? She passed that paper to the back of the stack. The second paper was a list of items and what looked like book names, but Lily wasn't sure. She turned to the next page. There was just one sentence on it: "Someone will visit you at your house shortly after you receive this letter. This person will be able to clear all concerns." Lily couldn't believe it. It couldn't be true. Maybe some prank from Trish. She would do something like this. Yeah, that was it. Her father was a veterinarian, after all. He could've gotten the owl easily. Lily smirked.

"Mum, it's a joke from Trish. I'll go give back the owl. Don't worry, ok. I'll be back in a second."

Lily grabbed the owl around the middle. It tried to peck Lily, so she let the owl sit on her shoulder. She opened the front door and started walking towards Trish's house. She rolled her eyes as she rang the doorbell. Trish laughed loudly before she opened the door. She was still smiling as she saw who was there.

"Hey! I thought you had left." She asked as she leaned against the door.

"Yeah, I got your joke. My mom didn't think it was funny, though. And it gave Pet a good scare, but that was the good part." Said Lily as she took the owl off her shoulder to hand back to Trish.

As soon as Trish saw the owl, the smile was wiped off her face, she even looked nervous.

"Dad! Can you come here for a minute!" Her voice was very high pitched. Her dad walked into the foyer with his reading glasses still on.

"Yeah, honey? Whoa!" He jumped back at the sight of the owl. "Lily, what are you doing with an owl?"

"Well, I got this dumb, joke letter and I figured Trish or 'Lene might've sent it." She didn't really understand why they were so alarmed. Obviously you don't see an owl every day, but why were they surprised at something they had planned? Or had they not?

"What did this letter say. Was it something about…ahem… a school?" asked Mr. Remmey. Lily was starting to get suspicious. She put the owl back on her shoulder, since Mr. Remmey wasn't going to take it.

"Yeah," she said, looking at them in a sort of glare. They knew more than what they were letting on.

"Lily, I'm going to your house for a while. Is that ok?" asked Mr. Remmey.

"Yeah, I think that's ok," said Lily, still wondering what they knew. Mr. Remmey went back inside and came out without his glasses. Lily and Mr. Remmey walked down the sidewalk, silently. When they arrived, Lily came into the house and looked inside the living room, being surprised for the second time that day.

* * *

Amy and Matthew Evans were sitting in the living room with none other than…

"Mum?" asked Mr. Remmey, "What are you doing here?" he walked over to his mother, a short old woman with a bun of white hair on the back of her head. She wore many beads and large glasses. When she smiled at them, Lily almost jumped back in surprise, since the lenses made her eyes look enormous.

"Hello, Daryl. I am here on duty. I was called in this morning by the Ministry asking if I could I could handle duty with a muggle-born."

* * *

"This," the old woman said signaling Lily, "must be your daughter."

Matthew replied, "Yes, this is Lily, our youngest daughter. She's the one that got the letter."

"Ah, yes. I can sense your aura, young one." The old woman was looking at Lily with a spark in her eye. Lily just looked at her and couldn't help asking herself if the old woman was mad.

"Yes," continued the old woman, now looking at and speaking to Lily's parents, "well, as I was saying, this is something very serious. It should be respected and feared. Most of all, you should be proud. It requires a great deal—"

"Mother, ahem, we're still here" interrupted Mr. Remmey.

"Why don't you go home son, I can do this. Lily, you may stay and listen," said Mrs. Remmey. Apparently, she still had enough control over her son as to send him home. Mr. Remmey nodded, said goodbye and let himself out. Lily sat down on the couch by her parents.

"Well, as I was saying, it requires a great deal of faith and trust; not only in your daughter, but in those around her. If you allow her to go to this school, and only if, she will learn things of which the muggle world has no real knowl—"

"What's 'muggle'?" asked Lily.

"Well, a muggle is a person with no real power, in the sense that those who aren't muggles are wizards and witches…"

Mrs. Remmey continued to talk and explain for about half an hour, while the Evans's listened attentively. She told them about Hogwarts, the most famoust school for magic; its headmaster, Albus Dumbledore; the founders, where to buy the school items on the list, how to get on the train of September first, and like a regular woman, she gossiped about the people in Diagon Alley, the place she was to buy her books at. She spoke of how this woman, Roberta Fudge who stood pompously with her son Cornelius, was buying a new house, since her weak-jawed husband had been made Minister for Magic again.

At quarter to nine, the Evans's bid farewell to Mrs. Remmey and thanked her for her help. Lily had been transfixed by the things this woman spoke of: moving photographs, magical mirrors, friendly ghosts and Quidditch. Lily, being an avid sport's fan, was very interested in this new sport played on none other than magical flying brooms! She would need to get one, of course.

Her parents, on the other hand, were still in doubt; not whether the school existed or if Lily's magic was real, but if they would let their little girl go. She would have to live in the school, which was a castle somewhere in Scotland, for the entire year. They wouldn't be able to see her until Christmas or summer vacations. According to Mrs. Remmey, their official form of post was on parchment delivered by animals, mostly owls in England, so they could keep in touch. Lily would be in a totally new place with total strangers experiencing totally new things without them being there to watch. They both thought of these things and Lily noticed their worried looks.

"Will you let me go, then?" asked Lily happily, hugging a cushion. Lily's parents looked at each other and her mother seemed worried.

"Lily, this is a big thing, letting you go off like this. It's impotant that you understand what responsibility and maturity this calls for." Lily nodded, she understood.

"I get it, Mum. I know. I want to do this. Don't you remember all the fairy tales, when you said I could live in a castle and have adventures of my own? This is it. I don't think I'll be getting another opportunity like this. Ever."

Her mother considered this and said, "Don't build your hopes up too high. You don't know if you'll like it."

"I will! Of course I will! Think, wouldn't you have wanted someone to come to your door some day and say 'you have the oportunity to live the life other people dream of'? I will be happy."

Her mother answered with tears in her eyes, "Honey, just don't build castles in the sky. You need to put some foundations beneath them. They won't stand on their own. Remember that."

"Soooo... do you let me go?"

Her father sighed andanswered with:

"We'll tell you in the morning."

Lily accepted the answer and went to bed, to dream of castles, knights and dragons. Best of all: this was her school.

* * *

The next morning, Lily woke up bouncing off her bed, knowing that she would get a solid answer to whether she was going or not. She showered, dressed and, in two by two, went down the stairs. Her mother and father were already dressed. Petunia in her pajamas, was eating like there was no tomorrow. She glared at Lily as she sat down. Lily had no idea why. Lily's parents looked at her and smiled. Amy spoke, putting her eating utensils on the plate.

"Lily, we have made a decision. Your father and I… will allow you to go to Hogwarts." She beamed proudly at Lily. Petunia watched this exchange and pushed her plate forward, saying she wasn't hungry anymore. Lily smiled and ate at breakneck speed. As soon as she was done, she ran to the twins' house.

The bell ringing and the rapping at the door at 8 am brought Trish's slumber to an end. Milkman? No, it was Sunday…she sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, scratching her head. She had started to yawn and stretch when the door burst open, scaring her enough to scream and scrunch up in her bed again. Lily burst into her room with an enormous smile on her face. What was she doing up so early?

"I got in!" she almost yelled

"Where?" asked Trish, looking over to the other bed, where her sister was still sleeping soundly on her side. Lily smiled even wider, if possible, and said in a quiet sing-song voice,

"I know your secret…" an evil smile lit Lily's face, and sent shivers down Trish's spine. She was now fully awake.

"Wh-what secret…? I don't have a secret. We have no secrets. Right?" She hoped miserably that what Lily knew didn't end their friendship.

"I got in. Your dad was there! I know all about you. Your grandma was there!" Lily spoke things only she could understand. Seeing the look on Trish's face, she just said it: "I got into Hogwarts!" Trish was in awe, completely shocked. After about a second of wide eyes and open mouth, she jumped up, yelled, hugged Lily, yelled some more, made a jumping circle, yelled and hugged Lily one more time. At this Arlene rolled over.

"There's no avoiding the noise, is there?" She asked, letting her head hang off the side of the bed, half her hair in her face.

"LILY GOT INTO HOGWARTS!" screamed Trish. Arlene got up, shook in awe, put the exact same face of wonder Trish made, then smiled and yelled and jumped with them. After a huge amount of exercise, they sat on the bed and talked.

"How did you find out?"

"How long have you been hiding this from me?"

"Were you scared?"

"Were you even going to tell me?"

"Wait!" They were all quiet. At the door was Charlie, the twins' older brother. "Did you just say Lily got into Hogwarts?"

"Yes!" all of them answered

"Ok, let's celebrate! Get ready and I'll take you out for ice cream." He said. They all cheered and the twins ran to get ready. In ten minutes they were out on the street, on a sunny day, eating the best ice cream Lily had had in her life.

* * *

Thanx to the people that reviewed so quickly. I put up this extra part becuse someone (Ally) said it was too short. So, just 4 u!


	3. The Fall in the Abyss

**Author's Note:** Needless to say, I own nothing Harry Potter or anything else you might recognize. I own no songs I write about. I have read enough books and stories to forget where I picked up a certain idea or phrase, so I can't give credit to the author. Thank you.

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Chapter 3

"The Fall in the Abyss"

* * *

The couple of weeks after Lily's letter came, she and the twins were closer than ever. They had absolutely no secrets. Lily learned loads of things from the magical world. Trish's and Arlene's mom was a muggle, like Lily's parents, but their dad was all magical, coming from a long line of wizards. Lily learned that the large fireplace in the Remmey's living room had a use besides keeping them warm in the winter; it was used as transportation, as well. Wizards and witches used wands to perform magic, but you weren't allowed to use magic legally until you turned seventeen. Their post was sent with owls, the same kind her school letter had come with. They were very smart and understood when you talked to them. Charlie had one, but it was rarely in the house. Lily got to meet him, however, the day after she learned of this. Lily could have written books with all she learned in the last two weeks.

In the second week of August, Mr. and Mrs. Remmey, along with their three children and the Evans's family (except Petunia) went for a drive to London. They took two cars, and drove the 57 km. until Mr. Remmey signaled them to stop. They parked and got out of the car, stopping at a corner that no one seemed to notice; the sign on the second story wall read "The Leaky Cauldron". At least it sounded weird enough to be a wizard place. They walked in. It was the darkest place. Lily thought they didn't turn on the lights, but then she noticed that the place didn't seem to have any electric fixtures. No lamps, no lights, no TV, no radio, nothing. The whole place was lit with candles.

She took some time to examine the people in the bar as well. All wearing long, floor-length jackets of all colors, and some of them wore odd hats. Well, this was her new crowd. She had better get used to it. Mr. Remmey greeted the man at the bar and led the crowd to the back door, behind the tables. They walked out to a back alley, where there were some crates and a few trash bins and encircling walls. Where was this going? Mr. Remmey took out his wand and tapped the wall at different bricks. Lily jumped back when the brick wall started melting away from the middle to create a large walkway. There were loads of people on the other side, acting as if all this was normal. Lily could see moving signs, people with their bags floating behind them, children with odd-looking body parts eating colored candies and laughing. The only thing she could think was "Wow".

They walked through the multitudes, and right up to a large white building. Lily saw monsters in uniforms standing at the entrance and cringed, backing into Arlene.

"It's ok, you know? They're goblins. They won't bother you unless you plan to rob the bank," she said, pushing Lily forward. Ok, so it was a bank. They walked in, coming to an enormous room, like a fancy hotel lobby, with high ceilings and a tall counter, which held probably a hundred of the same-looking goblins. Mr. Remmey walked up to one that didn't seem to be busy.

"We would like to go into the Remmey account, and we would like to open a new account, under the name Lily Evans, and convert pounds to wizard money." He seemed to know what to say to the goblin because he sent the Remmeys down a flight of stairs while the Evans's remained standing with the goblin looking down at them.

"Full name of witch or wizard in charge?" asked the goblin.

"Can it be a minor? Because neither my wife nor I are of magical blood." Said Mr. Evans.

"Yes it may, but I will be needing the name of one or both guardians of the minor."

Lily and the Remmeys walked out of there with more money in their pockets, at least more money in Lily's pockets. They had given her twenty galleons, enough to do her school shopping and have a little extra money. They went to buy robes, cauldrons, potion materials, books (both twins had to pull Lily out of this shop), had a food break, and finally, the wand shop. She was getting a wand! She was so excited that she was shaking.

The bell rang when they entered. There were three people looking for wands, so the adults sat down. Charlie had run off to a place unknown, probably with his girlfriend. All three girls tried out wands for about an hour and a half. Trish ended up with an 11½ inch, beech wood wand, Arlene ended up with a 10 inch, hornbeam wand, and Lily ended up with a 10¼ inch, willow wand. They paid seven galleons each and left the shop. Once outside, they could see how much time had passed, it was dark and most of the people had left. They reached the Leaky Cauldron, met up with Charlie and drove both cars home.

A week later, just seven days before her first day of school, she searched through the attic, finally finding what she needed. Charlie had suggested she take a trunk to school, considering all the things she had to take. Mr. Remmey proceeded to enlarge her trunk to the size of a closet, making compartments for each of her things. She then packed her books, which she had already perused; her uniforms and robes, her regular clothes and sweaters, her moneybag and all the extra things she needed. She was so exited.

On August 31st, the Evans's had the Remmeys for dinner, to thank them for everything. They talked of Hogwarts; Mr. Remmey commented about how wonderful it was for him when he was there.

"Not that I don't enjoy my life now, but my Hogwarts years were the best years of my life. I couldn't imagine my life otherwise. I just keep wishing Roni had gone there, too. She missed out on all the amazing things, but now she can enjoy all I know. I like sharing." He smiled a goofy smile, making both Lily's parents laugh.

Lily had a nervous but good feeling in her stomach, like right before a rollercoaster goes down a steep fall. She had almost no appetite, but she ate anyway. That night, after she bid farewell to her friends, she lied in her bed, looking up at the ceiling, feeling more nervous than she had ever been. She wondered if she would even fall asleep tonight, after all, tomorrow was the beginning of the rest of her life.

* * *

She woke up to her mother shaking her awake. It was nearly 8 a.m. Lily groaned and sat up; knowing that if she rolled over she would never wake up in time to catch her train. She double-checked her room for important things she might have left behind. After breakfast, of which she could eat very little, she brushed her teeth and put her toothbrush in her trunk. Her mother packing extra things for her as she ushered everyone, including Petunia, out the front door. It was quarter to eleven when both families arrived at King's Cross, Lily's stomach churning worse than ever. Mr. Remmey indicated that to get to their platform, they had to cross through the barrier between the platforms 9 and 10. Lily thought Mr. Remmey was daft, how could anyone walk through solid wall? Her answer was answered first, by a thought that sounded like _If it's magic it can happen_ and secondly, by the disappearance of Charlie behind a multitude of people that had just run in front of them. Mr. Remmey said it was a precaution against muggles, non-magical people, seeing them walk through the wall. Next went Arlene and Trish together. Mr. Remmey was to walk through with Lily, but he patiently waited for her to say goodbye.

"Bye Mum, Dad, Pet," Petunia was looking away, this hurt Lily, but both her parents hugged her, each wishing her good luck, that she fit in, that she write if there was any trouble, that she had a great school year, the works. They kissed her in turn, her mother's eyes shining with unshed tears. She waved goodbye as Mr. Remmey, with her cart, and she walked through the barrier onto the platform. She had closed her eyes and was clinging to the cart Mr. Remmey was pushing.

When the cart slowed down, she opened her eyes. A red steam engine, like those in the movies, stood before her. It bore the legend "The Hogwarts Express". Kids, some in uniform, some in regular clothes, some in cloaks and hats, bustled around, talking, laughing; just being kids. There was nothing to be afraid of. They were regular kids, like her. She would find her crowd in no time. She forgot she was standing completely still, in front of the barrier, when…BOOM—CLANK! A girl and her cart had just toppled over, and so had Lily, since the girl had bumped into her.

"I'm SO sorry!" exclaimed Lily, helping the girl pick up her things. She just glared at Lily, sending her knives with her black eyes. Lily stopped in mid bow and asked,

"Do you need any help?" even when she had already picked up a cage and a book. The girl bent down to pick up the book Lily was about to pick up and said "No." She pushed her cart over by some other people, while Lily walked towards her own group.

"Remember. Anything you need, you just owl me. If you forgot anything, owl me. If you just want to talk, owl me. If you don't want to talk, owl me anyway, just to know how you're doing." Mr. Remmey was giving his girls a speech worthy of a president. Both girls rolled their eyes and hugged him. He helped them haul their trunks to the door of the train and pushed them in. Next came Lily's trunk. He turned to her and said,

"Lily, I know I'm not your father, but I feel equally responsible for you as any father would." Lily felt a wave of appreciation for him, "If you need anything, you can owl me as well. The school has plenty of owls. You can also ask Charlie for help at anything. This is his fourth year there, so he has more experience than many. I just want to make sure you feel at home. This is an enormous change for you." Lily smiled at his fatherly manner. Just then, the train's whistle sounded. Mr. Remmey pulled Lily's trunk into the train. Lily found the compartment Trish and Arlene were in and put her trunk under the seat. The train whistled again and jerked to a start. She could see Mr. Remmey through the window, waving at them. She suddenly felt scared, she ran out of the compartment, both girls asking her where she was going, pulled open the door, and jumped out of the train, ignoring the screams of her friends. She looked back in time to see the train speed up and disappear in the distance. She had just jumped off the train of her hopes, dreams and everything she wished for. Now what?

* * *

Ok, my chapters are rather short, but at least I keep it up! Please keep reviewing and I'll keep updating, or maybe I'll update for reviews,I don't know. Just thank you to those who have read so far. Tell me what you think of it, just try not to criticise, I did this in like an hour. I have no spare time! School is killing me: research papers, book reports in Spanish, planing a whole yearbook in 41 days...it's not easy being me, so pretend you like being you when you review.

Cheers,

Elspeth


	4. Far from Home

**Author's Note:** Needless to say, I own nothing Harry Potter or anything else you might recognize. I own no songs I write about. I have read enough books and stories to forget where I picked up a certain idea or phrase, so I can't give credit to the author. Thank you.

Chapter 4

Far from Home

She couldn't believe what she had done; she had just given up everything she had built up over the past months. She had given into her fear, nervousness and indecision. She had thrown away everything she had ever dreamed of, everything she had looked for. As she watched the train disappear around the corner, she felt herself start to tear up. A strong hand grabbed her upper arm and pulled her up. She looked up at Mr. Remmey with sadness.

"I couldn't do it," she said, her eyes welled up and tears ran down her face.

"It's OK; I don't blame you, Lily. This is a difficult decision." He looked her as her father would have. She smiled. "Come on. We'll go to your parents." Mr. Remmey took Lily through the barrier to find her mother crying in her father's arms on a nearby bench. Petunia had apparently gone to wait in the car. When Mr. Evans saw Lily, he got up abruptly.

"Lily! What happened? Why aren't you on the train?" he asked. Mrs. Evans, in the meantime, had run over to Lily and hugged her. Lily sadly hugged her back.

"She got cold feet. At the last minute, she backed out. The train already left." Mr. Remmey answered for her.

"So, do you not want to go at all?" asked Lily's mother. It was a difficult question. She did want to go, but she didn't want to live without her parents. It was complicated.

"I _do_ want to go, but I'm going to get homesick…I think I got homesick the minute I got on the train." Lily said. Her parents smiled, but it was Mr. Remmey who spoke.

"Lily, it's OK for you to feel this way. It's only natural to want to be with your parents. If you don't want to go, then don't. It's your choice. Remember that this choice is important: it decides whether you want to be a witch or not. Without this education, you'll just be a girl with weird powers. You won't be able to control them." Lily thought about this, and then looked up at Mr. Remmey.

"Is there another way to get there?" asked Lily. "My stuff is there anyway, so it's only me." Mr. Remmey smiled. Lily heard whispered shouts, like someone scolding a person who didn't want everyone to hear. She looked around Mr. Remmey to see what it was. An olive-skinned boy with long hair came into view. His mother was speaking to him in what Lily thought was Spanish. She had been to Spain only twice, but she recognized two or three words.

"No puedo creer que no te apuraste… ¿ahora ves lo que pasa? Llegamos tarde. ¡Al rato ni está el tren! ¿Cómo crees que te vas a ir al colegio?" She said. Lily stared at the sullen looking boy. Apparently, he was used to let his mother rant on.

He looked at Lily and Lily looked at the trunk he carried on his trolley. He appeared to be a Hogwarts student. He looked about Lily's age. Lily went up to her father and told him to ask the woman if her son went to Hogwarts. So he did. He went up her and asked in Spanish if her son was going to Hogwarts. The woman's eyes went wide, and then she answered affirmative, that her son was going into his first year. Mr. Evans told the woman that the train had already left, and that his daughter, who also happened to be entering first year, had also "missed the train". Mr. Remmey told Mr. Evans to tell the woman that he would be taking Lily via "apparition", whatever that was… The woman said that was a good idea, and they should "apparate" to "Hogsmeade". Mr. Remmey said _that_ was a good idea. He helped the woman by banishing all the luggage but a light backpack the boy carried.

With this, the Evans's said goodbye, again, to their daughter. Mr. Remmey took Lily, the woman and her son to a dark, lonely corner of the train station. There, Lily had to hold on tight to Mr. Remmey. There was an enormous pressure on her body as she closed her eyes tight. When the pressure went away, about half a second later, they were in another place. There were people bustling around the shops with bags filled with magical things. This reminded Lily of Diagon Alley, but she knew it wasn't.

"Where are we?" asked Lily, forgetting to let go of Mr. Remmey's arm.

"We're in Hogsmeade. This is a town that Hogwarts lets only 3rd years and higher to come to. You get to see it three years early." Mr. Remmey smiled at Lily as she looked around. "Since the train has only left, you have about 7 or 8 hours of free time. The train usually takes that long to get to school. The school is right up this hill," Mr. Remmey turned around and pointed straight ahead. Lily saw the castle, but it looked tiny from this far away. "Make sure you're there by about 7-7:30, dinnertime." Lily understood that their plan was to leave her with his complete stranger. _I guess he can't be so bad; he's only 11, after all…_ Mr. Remmey gave her a few galleons to shop, since her moneybag was in the trunk she had left on the train. He insisted that her parents would tell her to accept it; after all, she was going to be here for a few hours. She took the money and watched as both grown-ups disappeared with a pop. Lily turned and looked at the boy. His hair was long enough that he had to tie it in a ponytail, maybe it was even longer than Lily's hair. His eyes were dark brown, and his skin was also dark. She imagined he came from the coast of Spain, where the sun was strong.

"What's your name?" He asked. Lily was surprised he could speak English, but even with a bit of an accent, she could tell he had spoken it for a long time.

"Lily Evans. You?" she replied.

"Esteban Aymerich."

"Where are you from?"

"Tordera, in Barcelona"

They started walking around the town and talking. Pretty soon, they were sitting at a table at an ice cream shop, laughing as if they were old friends.

"…then I asked him where he had gotten his hair cut, and he said it wasn't a hair cut, but that his baby sister had played with scissors while he was sleeping!" They laughed again, clutching their stomachs. Lily had only known this boy for a few hours and she felt like they had been friends for years and years. She had easily trusted him with stories that she had told no one but the twins. They spoke of past, future, muggle and wizard. He showed her his pet Jobberknoll, Ludgyar, (called Luddy) which he kept in a cage compartment of his bag. The name had come out of a fairy tale he had written. It was a small blue bird that made absolutely no noise. This pet was his friend since he was seven.

Esteban had trusted her with information that was very personal, like that of his father, who he never knew. And his mother, with their problems at home. She felt like she was playing shrink with this boy, and he was playing shrink with her.

They shopped around, buying a few things that they found amusing. Lily had wanted to buy a camera, and she found a magical camera. The pictures that came out automatically from the camera moved. It was a bit expensive (Esteban had said), but she bought it anyway along with a few extra blank photo packages… she still had a few galleons and sickles to spend. She saw a magical thermos that was self-refillable. All you had to do was fill it with a liquid and it would keep refilling with the same liquid. The only thing you needed to clean it out and put a new liquid in it was the simple cleaning charm that came on the tag (Scourgify). Lily was going to try this charm out as soon as she could. She paid for the thermos as well, leaving her pockets clean of any money.

The sun had started setting when Esteban suggested they should get going if they wanted to reach the castle in time. They walked the distance to Hogwarts only to find that the gates were shut. What to do… Lily was thinking of this while Esteban was already kneeling on the ground, looking in his backpack. He took out a muggle pen, a small piece of parchment and his Jobberknoll. He took the parchment and scribbled something on it. He folded it into a tiny square and gave it to Luddy. He beat his wings and slowly flew off. He wasn't very fast, but if he could reach the person in charge, it would be fine. They waited patiently for almost 20 minutes. Then a man came strolling down the walk…a gigantic man…

"You kids a'righ' there? What'cha doin' out here? You shoul' still be on the train, you shoul'." The man said.

They let him speak, for they couldn't say a word. He was more than twice their height, and ten times their width; trying to look up at his face made their necks hurt. They were silenced just by his size. He opened the chain on the gate with a key on a ring filled with keys. They went inside and the man closed up the gate again. He looked at them and reached to his shoulder, retrieving a blue thing.

"Whose Joberknoll is this?" He held out the small creature in his massive hand. Esteban walked forward and took the bird in his hand. He seemed shaky, but he didn't really look scared.

"Tha' there's a well trained bird. You do tha' yourself?" asked the man. Esteban nodded and the man smiled through his great bushy beard.

"Me name's Hagrid." The man stretched out his hand and smiled. Both children introduced themselves and shook hands with him. While for Hagrid it was a normal handshake, they both felt him shaking their entire bodies. They walked up to the front doors, and entered the grand castle. This is what Lily had been waiting for since she received her letter. The entrance was colossal. They walked until they reached a door; behind this door was apparently a room where there were many people. They could hear chatter and laughter. Hagrid turned to face them.

"I need to get the rest o' the students… ya better stay put for a while. I'll be bringin' all your classmates up in a sec." He said. He walked out the door and Lily leaned on the wall and slid down until she was in a sitting position. Esteban followed her as he slumped down, Luddy still in his hands. They talked for about half an hour when they started to hear noise from their left. They stood up to see what it was. A corridor that led to several flights of stairs was filled with children, all in black cloaks… oh, no! Lily hadn't changed…well, Esteban hadn't either, they had an excuse. They waited for the rest to come closer. They were followed by a witch in a dark green cloak. She was speaking, and Lily could hardly catch a word of what she was saying.

"…Hufflepuff and Slytherin. These houses will be your homes. Your classmates will be like your family. You will eat, study and go to class with your house mates. A house cup is awarded at the end of the year. It is awarded to the house with… excuse me, why aren't you with the group? And why aren't you in uniform?" This last part was addressed to Lily and Esteban.

"Well, Professor, we had a bit of a mishap, and missed our train. The luggage, unfortunately, went with the train. We didn't have our uniforms to change into, you see? And we came by means of Hogsmeade instead of by the train." Esteban appeared to be good with words, because it all came out so naturally, and even better, this strict looking professor just examined them with her eyes and nodded. They waited for her to continue speaking, and she led them to a hall, bigger than any place Lily had ever seen before. There were hundreds of students all dressed in black. They were sitting at four enormously long tables, and the teachers sat at a smaller one perpendicular to those four. Lily looked up and gasped. Through the ceiling, she could see the cloudy night sky, with a few stars peeking through. She forgot to move, and someone bumped into her. Seemingly, this person was also looking up. She looked back and yelled, receiving two yells in return. Arlene and Trish hugged Lily. They had forgotten where they were and looked around only to receive weird glances and looks from the other students.

They continued walking. Thy arrived at a dais and stopped. There was a stool and a hat and someone was singing, but Lily couldn't see too much. The person in front of her said the hat was singing. The strict-looking professor started calling out names. The student was to sit on the stool, put on the hat, and wait for something. Lily was utterly surprised when she saw the hat open its "mouth" and yell something. She remembered that these were "house" names. Esteban was called fourth. He sat on the stool and waited. The hat yelled "GRYFFINDOR!" after a few seconds. He got up and went to sit at the table. Each person who got "Ravenclaw" went to the third table, and every "Gryffindor" went to the first table. A boy named Black had jumped off the stool and _onto_ the stool, and started doing a jig and singing "I didn't get Slytherin" a few times before the professor yanked him down and asked him to go sit down. Lily was the thirteenth on the list. When her name was called, she went to sit on the stool. The moment she sat down, complete darkness covered her eyes. There was a voice that sounded around her ears and this made her turn her head to "see" who was speaking to her; then she remembered it was the hat.

"Well, you have a lot of courage. I see you put others in front of your own needs, a very loyal thing to do, maybe Hufflepuff. But then there's the bravery and intelligence, you would do well in Ravenclaw…unless…there is something in you that wants to excel, maybe Slytherin. But I believe love prevails over desire. You will go to…"

"GRYFFINDOR!" everyone at the Gryffindor table applauded. She smiled, still inside the hat. When it was taken off, she went to sit by Esteban, who had started talking to the Black boy. She was so excited! All her fears of earlier today had been erased. Trish and Arlene had also gotten into Gryffindor, along with two other girls. There were two other boys put into Gryffindor, as well.

When all the students had been set into houses an old man stood up and said words that made no sense. Then the food appeared. Lily had never seen so many different dishes in her life! There was so much to chose from. She had about two or three bites of each thing, making her total meal two plates of "spoonfuls". Then they had eaten dessert, the food disappeared. The old man, named Dumbledore, was giving announcements about the forest, a tree that hit people, the banned items, the curfew and then off to bed. The Gryffindors followed a fifth year female prefect up several flights of stairs. Lily was scared when the staircase she was on began to move. The prefect, who had already gotten off the staircase, told the remaining Gryffindors to follow the prefect at the bottom of the stairs. A sixth year male prefect had made them go down two flights of stairs, through several doors, and up four more staircases.

They eventually reached the grand portrait of a large woman in a pink dress. She said "password" and the prefect said "Kennilworthy Whisp". The picture nodded and swung open. A large round opening led to a room covered in gold and red. The prefect indicated where their rooms were, and said that their things had already been placed in their rooms. Lily had told Esteban they should meet up in about an hour. Then Lily and the twins ran to their room. It was a round room with five large four-poster beds, all with red curtains. Lily found her trunk at the foot of the first bed on the right. There was a bed between hers and Trish's. Next to Trish's was Arlene's and then another bed. Right at that moment, two girls came in talking. One of them had dark skin, like Esteban, and curly hair. The other was blonde and had large blue eyes. When they saw the other girls in the room, they stopped talking and introduced themselves.

"Hi. I'm Johanna King." The girl with the curly hair shook hands with all three. They smiled.

"I'm Samantha Lowe" she shyly waved.

"Lily Evans" Lily introduced herself, the twins did as well.

"Arlene Remmey"

"Trisha Remmey"

They did the usual "first day talk", usually what they expected to get out of Hogwarts, where they were going after Hogwarts, guys, home… Lily said she should go to the main circular room to look for Esteban.

Downstairs, the room was almost empty of students. Probably most of them were fixing their rooms. Lily spotted Esteban on a couch near the fire. She went to sit down with him.

"How's your room?" she asked. He immediately started talking about his roommates. There were three roommates, and one empty bed. Esteban imagined this would be filled later. One of the boys had really messy hair; he was making jokes all the time. There was another boy, who reminded him of a muggle actor called Richard Burton, but she had no idea who he was. This boy was the exact opposite of the word 'shy'. The third boy, a small fat boy, didn't speak too much. He mostly sat on his bed, listening to the other people talk. Lily was glad that Esteban had found people that he liked.

Lily then proceeded to speak of her roommates. Trish and Arlene she had know forever, Johanna, or Jo, as she had asked to be called, was excited about everything. She was all about Quidditch, the wizard sport. On the other hand, Samantha, Sam, was very calm and didn't like riding a broom. A broom! Like the witches in cartoons. She was going to be the real thing. It was a good thing that real witches and wizards were nothing like in the cartoons or movies. They were regular people with special gifts. Lily felt happy that she had come to Hogwarts.

An hour later, almost at 10, the common room was empty, Lily and Esteban said goodnight and went up to sleep in their respective rooms. Lily had never been happier than right now. She lied in bed and wondered if all the things that had happened were real. She slept to dream of magic, flying and a fairyland of perfection.

There it is, sorry it took soooo long. I promised my friend to include him in the story, and here he is. ;-D. Ojala q le haya gustado: solo para ud!

BTW: the real Esteban isn't Spanish, just Latin. Since Hogwarts is Hogwarts, I had to make him Spanish.


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